On Second Thought
by Rapha7
Summary: Rikou's morning wakeup call has the opposite effect on Kazehaya. It's a race against time and a curse to save him. KazehayaxRikuo and SaigaxKakei. Shonen ai.


**On Second Thought**

**By Rahpa7**

A "Legal Drug" fanfic. The characters and original story belong to Clamp.

Implied mild shonen-ai, KudoxRikuo; SaigaxKakei

nothing explicit

A lush valley filled with trees fringed the slowly swelling stream. The thick waves of grass on the banks did little to alleviate the threatening color of the surging water. Deep muddy red water bubbled and frothed over the scattered stones. The red water moved toward his feet rapidly. He leapt back, but felt the water slosh over his feet, run up his legs toward his throat. Smothered, he cried out, but the water pushed down his throat and silenced his cry for help. All he could see was red. Nothing but red water that he was slowly becoming a part of…red…

"Arghhh!" Kudo cried as he jerked upright and hastily slapped away the water upon his face. "Arghhh!" He cried again, this sound of complete terror as the vivid image of the dream failed to slip away from his eyes. "Arghhh!" Kudo shoved himself back away from the flowing sensation of water, screaming. His arms backpedaled against a soft surface and then there was nothing to support his arms. In the nothingness of support, he fell backwards…a seemingly endless fall. He let one last scream leave his lips as he felt his body catapulting back. Then nothing…a blackness overshadowed everything and he felt himself dissolving into it.

"What the…?" Rikou held onto the half empty glass of water he had been using for a wakeup call and stared in disbelief at the frantic, now unconscious Kazehaya. "How the hell…?"

The sound of pounding footsteps on the stairs and the image of Saiga and Kakei bursting through the doors cemented this as reality.

"What the hell…?" Rikou asked again, staring in disbelief.

Saiga reached Kazehaya's side and checked his pulse. "He's still breathing, and there's a pulse…did we make it in time?"

Kakei stood silently by Rikou's side and glanced at the pale boy and his fixated stare. He placed a hand gently on Rikou's arm. "I believe so. If we had waited any longer, he might be dead. It's alright, Rikou. Kudo-kun is going to be fine. It wasn't your fault at all."

"What…what…what…" Rikou couldn't speak anything else. He stared at the unmoving boy in complete shock. Saiga lifted up Kazehaya and carried him toward the door.

"We have to get him to a temple, right?" Saiga confirmed, trying to settle Kazehaya in his arms more comfortably.

"Yes, I believe that is the answer. Rikou, get dressed…you're coming with us…and hurry." Kakei gave Rikou an unseen concerned look as Rikou's trembling fingers dropped the glass on the floor.

The journey to the temple didn't take long, as Rikou stayed in the back of the car with Kazehaya, and Kakei kept turning around to check on them. Saiga drove like a maniac, laughing a little when he executed a particularly excellent maneuver.

"Don't look so frantic, Rikou. Pretty boy won't die if we have anything to say about it. We're almost there, anyway."

Rikou heard the words and felt the familiar lurch of the vehicle as Saiga continued to pass other cars and weave methodically through the traffic toward an unknown destination. Kazehaya's face remained flushed, though his skin felt cool to the touch. Rikou held on to him a little tighter as the car whipped around a very tight corner.

"Easy, Rikou." Kakei said softly, "It's not your fault…there's another cause…if I had seen it coming a little earlier, we could have avoided this altogether."

Rikou remained silent until they reached their destination. A temple shrine high on the outskirts of town, surrounded by old trees and only accessible by a series of steep stairs. He let a breath escape his mouth, then turned to lift Kazehaya up.

"Hey, boy, you're going to need help getting him up there…" Saiga started to take Kazehaya's arm, but Rikou jerked away quickly.

"I've got it. He's my responsibility, right?" The dark glare from his eyes prevented Saiga from forcing the issue.

"Fine." Saiga held up both hands and backed away.

"Let's go, then. Hurry up. We haven't that much time left." Kakei led the way up the steep stairs, with Rikou and Kazehaya taking the middle of the march. Saiga stayed behind them, trailing slightly, glancing around the area.

"Welcome to our Xxxxx Shrine." A diminutive priest clad stood at the top of the stairs.

Kakei leaned in closely and whispered something, to which the priest stepped back quickly and pointed toward an out-dwelling set away from the main temple area.

"There. If it is as you say, we must hurry." He clapped his hands loudly and another priest appeared from nearby. They conferred briefly, then the second priest raced off toward the main temple.

Rikou's breath coming from his lungs felt like razors were piercing through. His arms felt numb, but he pushed his legs forward determinedly, even when he swayed slightly. He had reached the top of the stairs, then followed the seriously conversing pair of the priest and Kakei.

Saiga reached the top and exhaled, "Whew! That was a climb! Let's go, boy! We're almost there!" He patted Rikou on the back and helped propel him forward slightly.

Rikou felt as if his tongue were frozen. Actually, he couldn't wrap his mind around the situation at all. How the heck did pouring water on Kazehaya while he was sleeping turn into this? He staggered a bit through the door, then placed Kazehaya on the central mat in the out-dwelling as the priest instructed.

"So," Kakei put a finger on his lower lip, "how long will the process take? We are very worried about our companion."

"Ah," the second priest entered quickly and began placing the candles in the center near the unconscious Kazehaya. "Don't worry," the bright faced priest smiled reassuringly, "in the case of curses we're the best temple to lift them, and with little or no harm to the clients. Please take a candle, each of you."

"Place them in the three areas around the center, on the stands…then light them." The smaller priest leaned forward and began checking Kazehaya's eyes and skin with his hand. "It is a strong curse. This may take some time. You must first cleanse yourselves and prepare, then you will come back here and sit vigil for four hours. Hurry."

The second priest ushered them out of the dwelling. "No worries, Haou-sama is the best at this kind of thing. Now then, to the hot spring cleansing pool with you. I'll get the necessary robes…Hurry. Cleanse yourselves of impure thoughts and actions while you bathe."

And that was how Kakei, Saiga, and Rikou found themselves bathing in the temple's purifying spring early one winter morning.

"A curse?" Rikou whispered aloud as he sank into the hot steamy waters.

"Ah, yes. The item I had you retrieve last night had a little curse on it. I really didn't think it would be such a problem." Kakei frowned, placing a hand on his cheek.

Rikou's eyes narrowed, "Then it's because of one of your jobs?"

Saiga frowned, "Watch the look in your eyes, boy. The item was retrieved and you were both paid well. The kid will be just fine, you heard the priest."

Kakei lowered his head, "I am sorry, Rikou. I really thought the extra measures we had taken would have prevented the problem. I mean, **you **are not in any danger…"

Rikou frowned, "You mean that thing worked?"

Kakei replied seriously, "For you, apparently, but Kudo-kun must have done something a little different from the routine."

"That IDIOT!" Rikou growled angrily, then turned and looked through the narrow opening where the out-dwelling was visible. "That complete IDIOT!"

"We must cleanse ourselves, Rikou. Of all things that may forestall Kudo-kun's healing. That is what the priest meant. So we must be focused on our desire to see him well again. And only that until the process is complete." Kakei warned, closing his eyes and concentrating seriously.

"That's true." Saiga responded loudly, clapping Rikou on the back. "Come on, boy, get a grip."

Finally they were soaked with the purifying waters and garbed in the ceremonial robes, and it was time to begin the process in the out-dwelling.

Kazehaya was no longer in his sleeping garb. The priests had changed him into his own robe and doused him with the purifying waters from the spring. But the normally loud and energetic boy was too frighteningly still.

The three candles in a triangle around the boy were surrounded by four newly lit candles in each of the corners. A circle near each the stand was drawn in chalk and a pillow pad placed at each station. In addition, near the four corners, a priest sat below the candle stand and assumed a position of prayer and penitence.

"Take your position next to the candle you lit. We must stay in position until he awakens. You must not speak or move, but focus entirely on healing your friend. If you do not do so, there is no guarantee to your safety or his healing."

Kazehaya opened his eyes. The red water had disappeared. Once again he was free of the oppressive feeling of suffocation. He slowly moved into a sitting position.

"Huh?" There was the river once again, and the copse of trees surrounding it, and now there was another addition to his location. A young woman dressed in a kimono stood patiently at the riverside. Her long hair reached past her waist. She turned and smiled.

"You finally came back! I'm so grateful, Kazehaya…I'm so grateful."

"Kei!" Kazehaya's words were lost as the young woman appeared at his side and cuddled closely to him, her hands pushing him back to the green prickly grass. It felt like the blades of grass were actually shards of glass. He winced, "Kei, don't push. It hurts."

"Is that so?" Kei lifted her head and smiled. Her eyes became pools of red, "Perhaps it is what you deserve."

"What? Kei, no! KEI!" Kazehaya tried to free himself from the young woman's grasp, but the piercing sensation in his back didn't end. The red in her eyes frightened him. "Kei, why? Kei, you're hurting me!"

At the temple, Kazehaya's body thrashed around at half past eleven. It had already been two hours since the process had begun. The priests spoke their prayers diligently, but the three on the cushions opened their eyes and watched as Kudo fought off something invisible to their eyes. Rikou grimaced and made to leave the mat, but the supervising priest, who walked around the inside of the ceremony waving his branch and incense pushed him down with the smoking twig and waved it around him several times. The priest continued the journey around the room, waving the twig around all the participants, the priests, and at last Kudo.

At the first wave of incense, Kudo's body suddenly stilled. At the second, his body leapt. And at the third, he stilled.

Kazehaya smelled something sweet that pervaded the atmosphere of the red riverbank. Kei's eyes were fading away from him…Kei was fading away from him. Instead the riverbank was becoming a fog of smell. What was that scent? Where did it come from? He fell back into darkness.

Three hours later and the process was still incomplete. None of the participants had been able to move for 5 and a half hours. It was uncertain whether the process was healing Kudo, but none could speak to ask.

Finally the priest glanced at the candles and gave a loud shout. Each of the participants nearly leapt from their cushions. The other priests opened their eyes and shouted. The priest nodded encouragingly to the participants. The priests shouted their incantations and the priest started shouting at Kudo to wake. Kakei and Saiga joined in.

Finally, Rikou, exhausted from the day, shouted,

"Damn you, you stupid idiot! Open your eyes!"

Kazehaya jerked on the mat, "What the hell! You bastard! What kind of wake up call is this? Jerk!" Kazehaya sat upright and began to yell back at Rikou.

The priests quietly finished their prayers and completed the ceremony, while the participants argued fiercely. The candles were lightly snuffed out and the main priest bowed before a startled Kazehaya.

"Huh?"

"Thank your friends for their care, otherwise you would be lost in that world for a long time."

"Huh?" Kazehaya turned and realized that there were others in the room with them. And that he was garbed in a strange robe. "What?"

"Well, now that it's all settled. We better get back to work." Kakei smiled and stretched as he stood slowly.

Saiga yawned, as he stood, "See here boy, the next time you do something stupid, it will only be Himura to bail your butt out of trouble."

Rikou growled lowly in his throat as he stood up and stretched, "You're such an idiot. You can walk down yourself." They walked out the door, followed by most of the priests.

"Huh?" Kazehaya sat on the mat in the center of the room. "This is not a dream either?"

The diminutive priest laughed, and reached down to give Kazehaya a hand up. "Kudo-kun, you were under a spell. It made you dream horrible things…in a horrible place…I don't blame you for being flustered."

"Um…do I have you to thank for waking me up, sir?" Kazehaya asked hesitantly, burying a hand in his flyaway hair.

"The credit goes ultimately to your friends…their voices roused you. But I have a warning for you, young Kudo-kun."

"Y..yes?" Kazehaya felt as if his heart were being stretched tautly under the priest's glare.

"This curse was something one could only get from collecting one of the sacred items of the dead."

Kazeyhaya swallowed, "Y…yes?"

"If you persist in such activities, you will have to take better care of yourself and listen to the voices of those around you. Otherwise you may soon find yourself in a dark land, without hope of light."

"U..um…were all the dreams created only by the curse?"

The priest frowned, "Why do you ask?"

Kazehaya laughed nervously, "N..no reason…ha ha ha. U..um, where's the exit again?"

The priest pointed him toward the door, nodded when he bowed, then watched as Kazehaya raced toward the stairs.

"Hmmm…there is more to this situation than a mere curse." The priest shrugged, then turned to his duties once more.

Kazehaya stood at the top of the stairs and bent over gasping for breath. "How can I be tired?" At the bottom he could see Kakei and Saiga standing near the entrance of the temple. "How'd they get down already? Wow."

"Idiot." Rikou grabbed his arm and started propelling him down the stairs.

"Wha…Agh! You…where did you come from?" Kazehaya gasped.

Rikou frowned, "The next time Kakei tells you to do something, do it. For one of his jobs, if we're going to keep taking them, then you're going to do it."

"Huh?"

"You idiot! All you had to do was take the precaution Kakei told us to…"

"Oh…that! I guess I forgot…"

Kazehaya could barely remember taking the charm Kakei gave him and putting in his pocket. But somehow the charm had disappeared by the time he had gotten home after the mission.

"…ever again."

"Huh?"

Rikou stopped on the stairs and jerked Kazehaya to a standstill, "If you do that ever again, I will beat you to an inch of your life…do you understand, you idiot?"

Kazehaya started bristling, "What the hell? Like you're so high and mighty? You've never made a mistake?"

Rikou opened his mouth, but looked too pained to answer. Instead he remained silent.

Kazehaya blinked at the slightly familiar look, "Okay. On second thought, it was pretty stupid. I'll be more careful. I promise, Rikou."

Rikou blinked several times and looked down at Kazehaya, "Fine. But if you forget, I'll beat you bloody."

"I know." Kazehaya turned to gaze down the stairs, then gasped as Rikou started moving. "Hey, wait, I'm not ready." Kazehaya nearly tripped and stopped dead when Rikou caught him easily with one arm.

"Idiot," Rikou whispered, holding him close for a moment. "We're leaving."

Kazehaya turned and looked up past Rikou's jawline which was directly over his head to look into his eyes, "Yeah, okay." A slight flush appeared on his cheeks.

When they reached the bottom a few minutes later, Saiga burst out laughing, "About time you two joined us! Get in the car! You can make out later!"

Kakei smiled encouragingly, "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to spend with each other once we get back to the store. We had a new shipment come in."

Kazehaya spluttered at Saiga as Rikou pushed him into the backseat. Rikou clamped a hand over his mouth as the car started.

"Be quiet. I'm tired from that damned ceremony, so shut it."

Kazehaya pouted, then frowned, "Well, I can't help it. I'm too awake to be sleepy."

Kakei laughed, "Then you don't mind putting the shipment away by yourself?"

Kazehaya frowned, "What? No fair!"

There was a sudden thump on his shoulder, and he turned to yell at Rikou, but instead found himself staring at Rikou's exhausted face.

"You should let him sleep. He's been frantic with worry all day." Kakei suggested.

"Y..yeah." Kazehaya shifted slightly, then flinched when Rikou's head slipped away from his shoulder to fall on his lap. "U..uh." He carefully turned Rikou's head to a more comfortable sleeping position, then turned to look out the window. He heard Rikou sigh once, and placed his hand on top of his head.

Since Saiga was driving more sedately, soon even Kudo was fast asleep. Leaving only Kakei and Saiga to keep each other company.

"A little too much excitement this morning." Kakei sighed.

"Yeah, but it's not such a bad thing."

"No, not at all, this time."


End file.
